Harassment is an ongoing problem on Wikipedia, particularly for editors from marginalized groups, including women, people of color, and members of the LGBT+ community. Vandalism of user pages can be particularly damaging to such people. An idea was submitted to the Spring 2016 Inspire campaign to protect user pages by default from editing by anonymous and new editors. The proposal gained significant support, and was developed into a Request for Comment, which reached consensus for semi-protection. The user page protection was implemented by means of an edit filter on the English Wikipedia in November 2016.

This presentation will discuss the motivation for and thoughts behind this process from the viewpoint of the proposer, Funcrunch, a member of multiple marginalized groups. Comparisons will be drawn to harassment in other Internet communities. Arguments for and against user page protection will be analyzed, and examples of attempted vandalism that have been prevented by the edit filter will be examined.

What will attendees take away from this session?

A better understanding of the impact of vandalism and harassment on editors who are underrepresented on the English Wikipedia.

Theme of presentation

WikiCulture & Community

For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?

Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long)

25 minutes

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?

Probably

Slides or further information (optional)

A Google Slides presentation will be prepared for the talk.

Special requests

Cannot present on Sunday

Interested attendees

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